Artisans behind historic buildings

Hida Takayama is located in the northern part of Gifu Prefecture. Surrounded by lush forests, this area has nurtured many artisans called “Takumi,” who have been at the forefront of Japanese woodworking and wooden architecture for about 1,300 years. In the Nara period (710-794), the high level of their skills was recognized and a special “Hida Takumi System” was established, under which about 100 Takumi were exempted from taxes in exchange for being dispatched to the capital annually.
Since then, as the company continued to work on historical buildings and develop its traditional culture, it has produced crafts such as “Hida Shunkei” and “Ichii Itto Bori”. About 100 years ago, the western furniture technology of “bent wood” was introduced to Japan, and through trial and error, it was fused with the traditional skills of the master craftsmen. As Japanese people’s eating habits changed from chabutai (table-top table) to dining sets, Takayama’s furniture craftsmen developed their expertise in wood furniture with high design and functionality, and Takayama became recognized by all as one of Japan’s leading furniture production centers. Even today, Takayama continues to attract more and more fans of “Takumi” both in Japan and abroad.

Adapting traditional crafts to modern life

Masashi Osawa, who was born in Hino City, Tokyo, moved to Takayama in his early 20s, studied woodworking techniques at a vocational training school, and then worked for a furniture manufacturer as a furniture craftsman. He bought an over 80-year-old old house and started his own workshop, Maru Kogei, there.
At first, he made wooden furniture, but as he pursued the technique of bending wood, he received orders and began making oval boxes called “oval boxes. The oval box originated as a piece of furniture created around the 19th century by the Shakers, a Christian sect that believed that beauty resides in usefulness, through careful handcrafting. It is a simple storage box made by bending thin wood. Many manufacturers and craftsmen began to produce replicas of the original, and the product gained popularity among a wide range of people and became known as a fashionable sundry item that blends in with daily life.
This is reproduced in Mr. Osawa’s style. The key is the bending technique he developed during his time as a furniture craftsman. Thin, solid hardwoods are steamed at high temperatures to soften them, placed in molds to fix them in place, and then dried to create supple, beautiful curves. The process is not a simple one, as it requires millimeter-by-millimeter adjustments to accommodate the different wood grains and moisture content of each piece of wood. To prevent the wood from warping or floating, the joints are made in a form known as a “swallow tail,” and the pieces are carefully pasted together one by one. The wood is cut out using a small knife with exquisite precision, and the soul is put into every detail. The works, which embody perfect functional beauty and are stripped down to the utmost limit, have attracted many fans and are sold out almost without ever being displayed in stores.
Another of Osawa’s styles is to reconstruct traditional crafts to suit modern lifestyles. He also creates wooden tissue cases with beautiful, graceful curves by applying bending wood technology and mirrors fitted inside wooden frames with magnificent circles, pursuing a stylistic beauty that combines rationality and originality. His next goal is to create pieces that will last for 100 years. I just want to create something that I can truly appreciate as beautiful,” he says. The wish of a modern master craftsman who has inherited the will and techniques of his predecessors is as simple and incomparably pure as the appearance of his work.

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What is a plasterer at Shuheigumi?

Plasterers use trowels to build walls, floors, and other parts of buildings. While the skills and craftsmen who have supported Japan’s traditional architectural culture are disappearing in the name of modernization and rationalization, one company that stands out from the crowd is Shuhei Gumi, a plasterer based in Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture.
The company has been involved in a variety of creative projects, including the reception wall of the Peninsula Tokyo, the wall inside the NEWS23 studio, the clay round table in the Zero Emission House at the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, and the title character in the NHK historical drama “Sanadamaru,” demonstrating the originality of their skills and imagination. At the center of his work is plaster craftsman Shuhei Hazado, a “sommelier of soil. Also known as a “sommelier of clay,” he creates walls with colors and textures that no one has ever seen before. Some of his works look like folding screens made of Japanese paper, others have a three-dimensional appearance as if they were made of hand-pulled cloth, and still others have an indescribable sheen as if they were finished with lacquer. All of them are made of clay. They are truly works of art that break through everyone’s concept of plastering. He knows more about clay than anyone else, and his skill and discernment in sublimating any impossible task into art can be said to be in the realm of the supreme.
His style is to “dare not study. This may sound impudent, but it is not. In his pursuit of the completely original, he dares to block out information that could serve as a reference. He rarely visits museums or reads books for hints on how to create his works. He simply looks at the natural landscape and takes its resolution to the extreme. For example, how do trees stand, how do their branches split, and how do their leaves grow? The artist’s eyes are made to see the works of nature that are beyond the control of human knowledge. Just as Antonio Gaudi took inspiration from nature to create architecture that had never existed before, Mr. Sando creates his designs from the workings of nature in Hida Takayama.

I want to leave my admiration for plastering to future generations.

In an age when many people are trying to find something by following the timelines of social networking services, Mr. Sando uses seemingly prehistoric methods to complete a series of works that are new and universally beautiful, leaving a strong afterimage in the eyes of many people. He is also questioning the essence of originality to the public. Mr. Sando, who will soon reach the age of 60, says, “I don’t have much time left. He is now working to complete the “Western Room of Hospitality” with overwhelming precision, completing work that arrives not only from Japan but from around the world. He took over a guest house built in 1916, moved it to his mountain 20 years ago, and has been making little by little modifications to it. The long process of completion, Nakata says, is similar to the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Traditional skills are being devalued, and reliable veteran craftsmen are aging, and it is not clear whether the next generation will grow up. Believing that he could change the situation in Japan and gain recognition if he built something truly beautiful, he is finally on the verge of completion. He told us that he wants to make it a place where people who feel the value will spend special moments.

What we have continued to do in the past and will not change in the future is not to do thin plastering. Thickness makes a difference in skill, and the air and presence of a space can be completely different. Mr. Sando says that he wants to leave behind for future generations his admiration for plastering by creating something overwhelming with just clay and a trowel. Compared to the soil that has passed through tens of thousands of years, the history of human-made architecture may be but a tiny, invisible dot. However, the dots left behind by Mr. Sando are more intense than anything else, and radiate a luster that cannot be compared to any other color.

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In a small port town facing the Seto Inland Sea, woodworker Atsushi Sakai has been diligently making wooden spoons all by himself. In his workshop, he produces a wide variety of warm and welcoming works, from spoons that serve as tools to spoons that look like works of art.

To the spoon shop as if guided.

Ushimado Town in Setouchi City is located in the southeastern part of Okayama Prefecture, facing the calm Seto Inland Sea. It is a port town with a prosperous history as a port of call for Kitamae ships and diplomatic missions from Korea, the Korean Envoys to Japan, during the Edo period. On a street that retains its old townscape, Atsushi Sakai has his workshop, “Spoon Shop. Across the street, his wife, Kayo, runs the “sajiiya studio,” a gallery store that sells Sakai’s works and holds special exhibitions.

After graduating from college, Mr. Sakai worked for a company in Tokyo for about two years. However, he felt that this life was not for him. When he thought again about what he wanted to do, the thought that came to his mind was “I want to live by making things. Then, in 1994, with the encouragement of his wife, he started making woodwork on his own. At first, he worked on signboards, doorplates, chairs, and other items ordered by acquaintances. Eventually, he was asked, “If you’re whittling wood, why don’t you make spoons?” or “If it’s a spoon, why don’t you paint it with lacquer? He met people who gave him advice at every step of the way, such as “If you are cutting wood, why don’t you make spoons? As he was guided by these words, he found that the items he was working on were concentrated on wooden spoons.

Therefore, around 2000, he decided to change the name of his shop to Spoon Shop and specialize in making wooden spoons. At that time, handmade artist’s tableware was beginning to attract attention at galleries and stores. Demand for wooden spoons to go with these vessels was also on the rise. As if to ride the current trend, he devoted himself to spoon making, and in 2006, opened a store and workshop in Kunitachi City, Tokyo.

If I don’t focus on what I create.

The turning point was the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. He asked himself what he could do to continue making things no matter what, and decided to move to Okayama Prefecture. He decided to move to Okayama Prefecture because he had friends there and because it was a place where craftsmanship had taken root. Local people say there is nothing in the area, but I felt a vague potential in the serene environment. In August 2013, he moved to Ushimado Town in Setouchi City.

This was the beginning of a change in Mr. Sakai’s craftsmanship. In Tokyo, his cycle of activities consisted of producing spoons for exhibitions. In the process, he found himself focusing on the content of the exhibition and the appearance of the spoons. I realized that I needed to focus more on the spoon I was making,” Sakai recalls. He reexamined what materials he was using, what tools he was making them with, and to whom he wanted to deliver them, and from then on, making things at his own pace became the basis of his work.

I still have a hard time deciding where to stop cutting.

In his one-man workshop, there are various pieces of wood and branches of various sizes, as well as a variety of tools. Some of the tools are self-made, based on those used by shoemakers in Europe. Using these tools, he first carves out the rough shape of a spoon from a piece of wood. No matter how skilled he is, he cannot resist the grain of the wood, so he always works with the grain in mind. Finally, he uses a knife to shave off the hollows to form the shape of the spoon. Mr. Sakai says that he is still searching for the right place to complete his work. His words seem to show how sincerely he has been working on each and every spoon.

Spoons in three categories

Currently, Mr. Sakai’s spoons can be broadly classified into three categories. The first is standard products for daily use. The main material used is cherry wood, which is easy to work with and durable. To make the spoons smooth to the touch, he repeatedly coats them with lacquer and wipes them clean. The spoon is a delicate tool to put in the mouth. Moreover, a wide range of people use spoons in their daily lives, from babies in the weaning stage to the elderly who find metal spoons heavy and cold.

While valuing the pleasant feeling in the mouth that only wood can provide, we also pay attention to the functionality of the spoon as a tool. Through repeated trial and error, we arrived at the current shape, which is both pleasing to the eye and comfortable to use.

And 25 different sizes are available. Mr. Sakai smiles gently and says, “I have increased the number of spoon sizes to meet the needs of users and their purposes. The series is also maintenance-friendly, and is filled with Sakai’s pride in the spoon as a tool.

Make without excess, and make the most of the wood.

The second category is a series of products made from thinned wood, which he started after moving to the area. For the standard spoons mentioned above, he uses wood purchased from a fine wood store as a material, but only a small portion is used for the spoons. For many years, he had felt a sense of regret about using only a small portion of the wood for his spoons.

For the thinned wood spoons, he looks at the wood and carves out a usable spoon shape. From the remaining blank space, a small butter knife is made. Rather than wasteful, the craftsman’s approach is based on the perspective of what can be done with the wood without wasting it. Furthermore, this series of knives are not lacquered so that they can be used and enjoyed with the eyes as they change over time.

The third is a series of works of art made from thinned olive wood, a specialty of Ushimado, which has been developed under the name “Shobokushi” since 2018. The process of making them is unique. He says, “I look at the shape of the branch and forcefully apply the shape of a spoon to it. By doing so, the unusual shape of the tree branch, the color of the bark, and the fibers of the wood are brought to life. I make this product because I want to feel the exquisiteness of wood. They are not easy to use as tools, but they are interesting to make.

Our goal is to keep making them for a long time.

About 25 years ago, at the age of 30, Mr. Sakai decided to become a spoon shop owner. He has no regrets about that decision. Thanks to that decision, I have been able to travel to many places and meet many people. Every day, he feels the connection between himself and the world through the medium of wooden spoons.

In 2023, he started a spoon-making club called “spoon club 4U,” which meets monthly at his workshop. It is not a one-way class where Mr. Sakai teaches, but a club where everyone spoon-makes together. The fact that he has met people here who are interested in making spoons has also been a stimulus for his creations.

When asked about their goals for the future, they responded with two answers, one large and one small. The smallest goal is to make small wooden bowls and develop them as a set with a spoon. Toward that goal, he is practicing making bowls little by little. His big goal is to continue making spoons for as long as possible. We wonder what kind of world Mr. Sakai, who has been devotedly working with spoons, will show us in the future.

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Among the traditional techniques of woodworking, the oldest is kurimono, a technique of carving out a block of wood with a chisel and a planer. Since his first entry in 1992, when he won his first prize at the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition, the largest of its kind in Japan, he has frequently won awards at other prestigious crafts exhibitions. In 2022, Kawaguchi received the Pola Award for Excellence in Traditional Culture, which is said to have an influence on the selection of living national treasures. We visited his studio in Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture.

Majored in crafts at university and entered the world of fittings

It was during his college years that Mr. Kawaguchi entered the world of woodworking. He entered the art department of Aichi University of Education, where he majored in crafts in his third year, and as he worked with a variety of materials, he became interested in woodworking. His teacher at the time recognized his interest and took him on several visits to a fixture store in Kariya City, where the university was located, and he became interested in the fixture business and began working there part-time. His hard work was well-received, and he was hired at the same fixture store where he had been working.

While working as a joiner, he independently researched gouges.

Fittings are doors, shoji screens, fusuma (sliding doors), and other items used to partition rooms and the outside. After finding a job and working hard at making fittings, Mr. Kawaguchi began to make kurimono in his spare time. Why did he choose to make kurimono? He has no clear reason. I guess I just happened to have the right materials on hand,” he says, reminiscing about those days.

The first piece he made out of boride was a tanzaku box, a rectangular box for writing tanzaku, a type of Japanese poetry.
When I tried it, it was so interesting,” said Kawaguchi with a smile on his face. She was immediately captivated by the idea of making gorimono. The way she talked about the charm of this craft was like a parent caring for a child.

Because the tools and methods of production differ from those used for fittings, he learned from people who were familiar with this genre, asked specialists who handle tools such as a planer, and visited lacquer craftsmen. Mr. Kawaguchi’s interest in the art of kurimono has never ceased.

In 1992, he was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon, and in 2022, he was awarded the Pola Award for Excellence, the highest recognition for traditional culture, which also influences the selection of living national treasures. In 2022, he was awarded the Pola Prize for Excellence, the highest evaluation of the Pola Prize for Traditional Culture, which is said to have an influence on the selection of living national treasures. The reason for this award is that the craftsman was recognized for his innovative sculptural skills and precise techniques that accentuate the beauty of the wood grain, even though they are practical crafts.

It can be sparked by looking at a tree or by a shape.

In woodworking, the way the grain of the wood is utilized is the appeal of the work, and it is also a showcase of the craftsman’s skill. In woodworking, the way the grain of the wood is brought to life is what makes the piece appealing and is a showcase for the craftsman’s skill. Kawaguchi says, “I whittle away at the grain of the wood as if I were painting a picture on the shape of the vessel. Kawaguchi captures the grain of the wood as if he is creating his own scenery. In his eyes, the grain of the wood may appear as if it were alive.

The workshop is crammed with wood, but each tree has a different grain texture, even if they are of the same species. The annual rings are formed in different ways depending on the speed of growth of the tree, and sometimes there are wrinkles depending on the environment in which the tree was growing. The wood used for production takes time to dry. In order to be able to immediately give form to an idea that strikes him at that moment, he dries various types of wood in his workshop and has them ready for use at any time.

Precious Jindaike zelkova and Miyama cedar

Among them is “Jindai Zelkova,” a rare wood that has been buried in the ground for more than 1,000 years and is used by artists for special occasions such as exhibiting their works at the Japan Crafts Exhibition. Kawaguchi-san’s workshop also has a piece of this wood. The color and texture of the wood are favored by craftspeople for their austerity. Originally, this wood was not available on the market, but in 1959, the Ise Bay typhoon, which caused the most damage since the Meiji era, felled many trees at Ise Jingu Shrine, and they were preserved and made available for purchase by the general public. Being a large tree, the annual rings are fine and exude delicacy.

Kurogaki (black persimmon) with a modern atmosphere

Along with such rare woods, black persimmon catches the eye with its unusual coloring. This is another mysterious material,” says Kawaguchi. Kawaguchi-san says, “It’s also a mysterious material. The black pattern is created not by the grain of the wood, but by the reaction of the wood with the elements absorbed from the soil. The appeal of this material is that it gives the impression of modern art nuance, even though it is simply a natural product.

Tradition of not stopping and evolving

It takes several years for the wood to dry and become usable, or more than 10 years for the longest ones. The process is repeated several times, and the wood changes its shape when it is moistened and when it is dry. It takes a long time to produce a single work of art.

Materials are expensive, and production is time-consuming. And it is not as if what is made sells like hotcakes. Thus, woodworking is not a world that offers great returns. Nevertheless, what drives Mr. Kawaguchi is his love of wood, which is pleasant to the touch. He has never wavered in his determination to work with wood throughout his life since he started woodworking.
He is also motivated by the recognition of his work at the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition and other exhibitions. Kawaguchi’s works have a lively and dynamic feel, as if the grain of the wood has been painted with paint.

Mr. Kawaguchi likes to spend time working, but he also enjoys the time he spends thinking of new ideas. He gets his ideas from looking at wood, or from taking a walk in nature to get inspiration from natural scenery and flowers.
Although it is a different genre from woodworking, he also gets a lot of inspiration from art exhibitions of contemporary art. Even the world’s most famous artists change with the times, and what they think and create also changes.
I think that’s what tradition is all about. He speaks quietly, but with an eye on the future, he is passionate about what he is doing.

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Classical workmanship loved throughout the ages

A long-standing furniture shop in Matsumoto City established in 1944. Executive director of the company and grandson of the founder Sanshiro Ikeda,Mototami Ikeda greeted us at the Central Showroom. Furnitures manufactured here are renowned for the blend of western antique and Japanese traditional design. They are also made to be durable, and can be passed down from generation to generation. There are many fans of the company. ”Taro Maruyama of Matsumoto Mingeikan and my grandfather were classmates, and that led us to the world of folkcraft”, Ikeda told us.

When you put ego aside, the beauty comes out

Matsumoto City has been known for furniture making for over 400 years, but there were times when the tradition was tapering down.” (Muneyoshi) Yanagi said that once the fire of tradition extinguishes, it cannot be lit again. That motivated me strongly to start a furniture shop” explained Ikeda. In order to make furniture which ”people will never get tired of”, ”The furniture maker must let go of his ego. Then the natural beauty will start to appear. People will lose interest in furniture with too much emphasis. They should be absolutely beautiful, and exist naturally, like the air.” When asked which furniture was the most impressive, the answer was ”#44 Windsor Chair”. Its design was born from English common culture, and ”there is no chair that surpasses the structure mechanics of this chair. It is a piece of perfection”.

Saw Pattern craftsmen, assembly craftsmen, and painting craftsmen divide work in furniture making

We were introduced to the furniture factory nearby. Here, craftsman of saw pattern (cutting), assembly, and painting divide tasks and work separately. It is said that division of labor is better to ”use material rationally without waste”. It is a rule to carve a letter from the name of the craftsman on the furniture, and by doing so, it is clear who worked on it. In the painting section, which handles the final step, the painter was carefully applying varnish to a chair. It takes 12 steps of applying paint by hand. You can see the difference in the quality the longer you use the furniture. While watching the near completion of the chair, Nakata commented ”This rich dark color is a symbol of Matsumoto Folk Furniture.” We were told that ”in the old houses, people used to polish the pillar that was smoked by the hearth every day. It is the color engraved in Japanese people’s identity”. The founder explained that this was the reason he decided to use this color for his products.

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